Power and Superpower Global Leadership and Exceptionalism in the 21st Century

The United States entered the twenty-first century as a global leader, emulated for its ideals as much as it is respected for its power to shape events. American leadership served as the bedrock for the international order, promoting prosperity and peace both at home and abroad. But in the first years of the new century, U.S. foreign policy--exemplified by war in Iraq, the rejection of international treaties, and disregard for traditional allies--gave the impression to many that the United States had abandoned that leadership role in favor of one premised on military power. In Power and Superpower, some of the United States' most distinguished and experienced policymakers and experts outline a foreign policy that would allow America to reclaim its status as a reliable and visionary global leader. The essays identify the pressing foreign policy issues currently facing the United States and provide analysis to underpin a progressive foreign policy that would call upon all of America's strengths and respect the commitments we share with the rest of the world. Contributors include Madeleine Albright (former secretary of state), Yaeli Bloch-Elkon (Columbia University), Nancy Birdsall (Center for Global Development), Mark Malloch Brown (deputy secretary general, United Nations),Wesley K. Clark (U.S.Army, ret.), Eileen Claussen (Pew Center on Global Climate Change), Ivo H. Daalder (Brookings), Elliot Diringer (Pew Center on Global Climate Change), James Dobbins (RAND Corporation), David P. Forsythe (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), Ken Gude (Center for American Progress), Charles A. Kupchan (Georgetown University), Robert Kuttner (American Prospect), Robert Z. Lawrence (Harvard University), Jim Leach (former U.S. representative, Iowa), Richard C. Leone (The Century Foundation), Michael McFaul (Stanford University), Stewart Patrick (Center for Global Development), John D. Podesta (Center for American Progress), Susan Rice (Brookings Institution), John G. Ruggie (Harvard University), William F. Schulz (Center for American Progress), Robert Y. Shapiro (Columbia University), Gayle Smith (Center for American Progress), George Soros (Open Society Institute), James B. Steinberg (Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas), Daniel Tarullo (Georgetown University), Peter L.Trubowitz (University of Texas at Austin), and Milan Vaishnav (Center for Global Development).